MailLedger

Modern, cross-platform desktop email client built with Rust.

Features

• 📧 Native Email Client: Full-featured desktop email experience
• 🔒 Secure Authentication: Support for OAuth2 (Gmail, Outlook) and traditional login
• ⚡ Real-time Sync: IDLE push notifications for instant message updates
• 🎨 Modern Interface: Clean, responsive UI built with iced framework
• 🔐 Secure Storage: Credentials stored in system keyring
• 🌐 Cross-platform: Linux, Windows, and macOS support
• 🚀 Custom IMAP/SMTP: Built on production-quality Rust implementations

Why OAuth2?

Microsoft permanently disabled Basic Authentication for IMAP/SMTP in April 2026. MailLedger provides full OAuth2 support for modern email providers:

• ✅ Microsoft Outlook / Office 365
• ✅ Gmail / Google Workspace
• ✅ Yahoo Mail
• ✅ Custom OAuth2 providers

Traditional username/password authentication is still supported for providers that allow it.

Installation

From Source

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/mqasimca/mailledger.git
cd mailledger

# Build the application
cargo build --release

# Run MailLedger
cargo run --release -p mailledger

System Requirements

• Linux: Wayland compositor (Gnome, KDE Plasma, Sway, etc.)
• Windows: Windows 10 or later
• macOS: macOS 10.15 or later

Quick Start

1. Launch MailLedger

   cargo run --release -p mailledger
   

2. Add Your Account

   • Click "Add Account" on first launch
   • Choose OAuth2 (recommended) or traditional login
   • Follow the authentication flow

3. Configure OAuth2 (if using Gmail/Outlook)

   • For Outlook: Register app at Azure Portal
   • For Gmail: Create project at Google Cloud Console
   • Add your client ID to the app settings

4. Start Using MailLedger

   • Browse folders in the sidebar
   • Read and compose messages
   • Real-time sync with IDLE support

Features in Detail

Email Management

• Folder Navigation: Access all your IMAP folders
• Message List: View messages with sender, subject, date, and preview
• Message Reading: Full HTML and plain text support with inline images
• Compose: Create and send new messages
• Reply/Forward: Quick response actions

Security

• OAuth2 Support: Secure, token-based authentication
• System Keyring: Credentials stored using OS-native secure storage
• TLS Encryption: All connections use rustls for secure communication
• No Password Storage: OAuth2 means no passwords in the app

Performance

• Real-time Updates: IDLE monitoring for instant message notifications
• Efficient Sync: Only fetches what's needed
• Responsive UI: Built with iced for smooth 60fps rendering
• Fast Startup: Optimized binary with LTO and strip

Architecture

MailLedger is built on a modular architecture:

• mailledger (this crate): GUI application using iced framework
• mailledger-imap: Full IMAP4rev2 client library
• mailledger-smtp: SMTP client for sending emails
• mailledger-oauth: OAuth2 authentication library
• mailledger-core: Business logic and services
• mailledger-mime: MIME parsing and generation

Development

Building

# Debug build
cargo build -p mailledger

# Release build (optimized)
cargo build --release -p mailledger

# Run with logging
RUST_LOG=debug cargo run -p mailledger

Testing

# Run all tests
cargo test --workspace

# Run specific crate tests
cargo test -p mailledger-imap

Code Quality

# Format code
cargo fmt --all

# Lint with Clippy
cargo clippy --workspace

# Check all together
cargo fmt --all && cargo clippy --workspace && cargo test --workspace

Platform Support

Linux

• Display: Wayland only (no X11)
• Keyring: GNOME Keyring or KWallet via Secret Service
• Tested on: Gnome, KDE Plasma, Sway

Windows

• Minimum: Windows 10
• Keyring: Windows Credential Manager
• Graphics: DirectX 12

macOS

• Minimum: macOS 10.15 (Catalina)
• Keyring: macOS Keychain
• Graphics: Metal

Configuration

Configuration and data are stored in platform-specific directories:

• Linux: ~/.config/mailledger/ and ~/.local/share/mailledger/
• Windows: %APPDATA%\mailledger\
• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/mailledger/

Roadmap

• OAuth2 authentication
• IMAP folder and message browsing
• Message reading with HTML support
• Real-time IDLE sync
• Dark/light theme
• Message composition and sending
• Search functionality
• Multiple account support
• Offline mode
• Message filtering and rules

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please read the CLAUDE.md for development guidelines.

License

MIT License - see LICENSE for details.

Acknowledgments

Built with:

• iced - GUI framework
• tokio - Async runtime
• rustls - TLS implementation
• sqlx - Database access